BOULDER, Colo. — If you've stood in line to order from a food truck, you know what it's like to shout over a noisy gas-powered generator.
"What's that? What would you like to order?" said Alex Maloof, owner of Cafe Alejandro.
The experience of ordering a mocha from Cafe Alejandro was no different until this month.
"When I'm in here doing all this stuff, it's not this super loud freight train behind me. It's just the batteries purring away. Amazing," said Maloof.
Maloof runs his coffee business in Boulder and is one of the first food truck owners to go electric through a new program.
"There's so much futurism in this. I just love it," he said.
Engines Off for Food Trucks will give owners like him up to $20,000 to help buy electric power systems. The state covers 80% of the cost, making Maloof's $16,000 Joule Case battery possible.
"Even though that was still hard to come up with the extra 20%, there was no chance I was not going to do this because it was the opportunity to get this system," said Maloof.
A spokesperson for the Regional Air Quality Council, David Sabados, said the goal is to convert 100 mobile businesses within the next two years.
While this won't fix the air quality issues along the Front Range, he said it's a small step toward reducing pollution.
"Your car has a catalytic converter and other emissions control devices that reduce the amount that it's kicking out. But a lot of these small engines, like a generator, have far fewer emissions control devices," explained Sabados.
And as Maloof crafts each cup, he knows he's contributing to cleaner air in Colorado.
"It just means everything to me to take this to the next level of business," he said.
The state has already given out grants to 19 businesses. You can apply on Enginesoff.org through December 31.
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